Technologies for determining sensor deployment characteristics

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for detecting sensor deployment characteristics in a network. In some embodiments, a system can run a capturing agent deployed on a virtualization environment of the system. The capturing agent can query the virtualization environment for one or more environment parameters, and receive a response from the virtualized environment including the one or more environment parameters. Based on the one or more environment parameters, the capturing agent can determine whether the virtualization environment where the capturing agent is deployed is a hypervisor or a virtual machine. The capturing agent can also determine what type of software switch is running in the virtualized environment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.62/171,899, entitled “SYSTEM FOR MONITORING AND MANAGING DATACENTERS,”filed on Jun. 5, 2015, which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present technology pertains to network analytics, and morespecifically to determining a type and placement of sensors in anetwork.

BACKGROUND

In a network environment, capturing agents or sensors can be placed atvarious devices or elements in the network to collect flow data andnetwork statistics from different locations. The collected data from thecapturing agents can be analyzed to monitor and troubleshoot thenetwork. The data collected from the capturing agents can providevaluable details about the status, security, or performance of thenetwork, as well as any network elements. Information about thecapturing agents can also help interpret the data from the capturingagents, in order to infer or ascertain additional details from thecollected data. For example, understanding the placement (e.g.,deployment location) of a capturing agent within a device or virtualizedenvironment can provide a context to the data reported by the capturingagents, which can further help identify specific patterns or conditionsin the network. Unfortunately, however, information gathered from thecapturing agents distributed throughout the network is often limited andmay not include certain types of useful information. Moreover, as thenetwork grows and changes, the information can quickly become outdated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and otheradvantages and features of the disclosure can be obtained, a moreparticular description of the principles briefly described above will berendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which areillustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawingsdepict only exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and are nottherefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the principlesherein are described and explained with additional specificity anddetail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of an example network environment;

FIG. 2A illustrates a schematic diagram of an example capturing agentdeployment in a virtualized environment;

FIG. 2B illustrates a schematic diagram of an example capturing agentdeployment in an example network device;

FIG. 2C illustrates a schematic diagram of an example reporting systemin an example capturing agent topology;

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example configuration forcollecting capturing agent reports;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example method embodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates a listing of example fields on a capturing agentreport;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example network device; and

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate example system embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Various embodiments of the disclosure are discussed in detail below.While specific implementations are discussed, it should be understoodthat this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled inthe relevant art will recognize that other components and configurationsmay be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

Overview

Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forthin the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or can be learned by practice of the herein disclosedprinciples. The features and advantages of the disclosure can berealized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinationsparticularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and otherfeatures of the disclosure will become more fully apparent from thefollowing description and appended claims, or can be learned by thepractice of the principles set forth herein.

The approaches set forth herein can be used to determine the placementand deployment of a capturing agent within a virtualized environment.For example, the capturing agents can be packet inspection sensorsconfigured to monitor, capture, and/or report network trafficinformation. The capturing agents can be deployed on virtual machines,hypervisors, servers, and network devices (e.g., physical switches) onthe network. The various capturing agents can capture traffic from theirrespective locations (e.g., traffic processed by their hosts), andreport captured data to one or more devices, such as a collector systemor a processing engine. The captured data can include any traffic and/orprocess information captured by the capturing agents including reportsor control flows generated by other capturing agents.

The approaches herein can be used to determine whether a capturing agentresides in a virtual machine or a hypervisor. In addition, theapproaches herein can be used to identify a type of software switch orvirtual network device used by the virtualized environment on which thecapturing agent resides. This information can provide context andadditional meaning to the data captured and/or reported by the capturingagent.

Disclosed are systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media fordetermining sensor deployment characteristics in a network. In someembodiments, a system can run a capturing agent deployed on avirtualization environment of the system. The virtualized environmentcan include a hypervisor and a virtual machine. Moreover, thevirtualized environment can include a software switch configured toroute traffic to and from the virtualized environment.

The capturing agent can query the virtualization environment for one ormore environment parameters, and receive a response from the virtualizedenvironment including the one or more environment parameters. The one ormore parameters can include, for example, what kernel module(s) has beenloaded by an operating system running in the virtualized environment,what services or processes are running on the operating system, whattype of network address (e.g., local address, global address, etc.) isassigned to the virtualized environment, what events have occurred atthe virtualized environment, what type of files or libraries are used bythe operating system, what configuration parameters have been set forthe software switch and/or network interface used by the virtualizedenvironment, etc.

Based on the one or more environment parameters, the system candetermine whether the virtualization environment where the capturingagent is deployed is a hypervisor or a virtual machine. For example, thecapturing agent can determine that it is currently deployed in ahypervisor on the system or a virtual machine on the system. The systemcan also determine what type of software switch is running in thevirtualized environment. For example, the capturing agent can determineif the virtualized environment is running a virtual network interfacecard and/or a software bridge.

Description

The disclosed technology addresses the need in the art for understandingdata reported from capturing agents on a virtualized environment, anddetermining a deployment context, such as placement and deploymentcharacteristics, of the capturing agents. Disclosed are systems,methods, and computer-readable storage media for determining sensordeployment context and characteristics in a network. A description of anexample network environment, as illustrated in FIG. 1, is firstdisclosed herein. A discussion of capturing agents and capturing agenttopologies in virtualized environments will then follow. The discussioncontinues with a description of capturing agents and mechanisms fordetermining deployment and placement context and characteristics ofcapturing agents in a network. The discussion then concludes with adescription of example devices, as illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11A-B.These variations shall be described herein as the various embodimentsare set forth. The disclosure now turns to FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of example network environment 100. Fabric112 can represent the underlay (i.e., physical network) of networkenvironment 100. Fabric 112 can include spine routers 1-N (102 _(A-N))(collectively “102”) and leaf routers 1-N (104 _(A-N)) (collectively“104”). Leaf routers 104 can reside at the edge of fabric 112, and canthus represent the physical network edges. Leaf routers 104 can be, forexample, top-of-rack (“ToR”) switches, aggregation switches, gateways,ingress and/or egress switches, provider edge devices, and/or any othertype of routing or switching device.

Leaf routers 104 can be responsible for routing and/or bridging tenantor endpoint packets and applying network policies. Spine routers 102 canperform switching and routing within fabric 112. Thus, networkconnectivity in fabric 112 can flow from spine routers 102 to leafrouters 104, and vice versa.

Leaf routers 104 can provide servers 1-5 (106 _(A-E)) (collectively“106”), hypervisors 1-4 (108 _(A)-108 _(D)) (collectively “108”), andvirtual machines (VMs) 1-5 (110 _(A)-110 _(E)) (collectively “110”)access to fabric 112. For example, leaf routers 104 can encapsulate anddecapsulate packets to and from servers 106 in order to enablecommunications throughout environment 100. Leaf routers 104 can alsoconnect other devices, such as device 114, with fabric 112. Device 114can be any network-capable device(s) or network(s), such as a firewall,a database, a server, a collector 118 (further described below), anengine 120 (further described below), etc. Leaf routers 104 can alsoprovide any other servers, resources, endpoints, external networks, VMs,services, tenants, or workloads with access to fabric 112.

VMs 110 can be virtual machines hosted by hypervisors 108 running onservers 106. VMs 110 can include workloads running on a guest operatingsystem on a respective server. Hypervisors 108 can provide a layer ofsoftware, firmware, and/or hardware that creates and runs the VMs 110.Hypervisors 108 can allow VMs 110 to share hardware resources on servers106, and the hardware resources on servers 106 to appear as multiple,separate hardware platforms. Moreover, hypervisors 108 and servers 106can host one or more VMs 110. For example, server 106 _(A) andhypervisor 108 _(A) can host VMs 110 _(A-B).

In some cases, VMs 110 and/or hypervisors 108 can be migrated to otherservers 106. For example, VM 110 _(A) can be migrated to server 106 _(C)and hypervisor 108 _(B). Servers 106 can similarly be migrated to otherlocations in network environment 100. For example, a server connected toa specific leaf router can be changed to connect to a different oradditional leaf router. In some cases, some or all of servers 106,hypervisors 108, and/or VMs 110 can represent tenant space. Tenant spacecan include workloads, services, applications, devices, and/or resourcesthat are associated with one or more clients or subscribers.Accordingly, traffic in network environment 100 can be routed based onspecific tenant policies, spaces, agreements, configurations, etc.Moreover, addressing can vary between one or more tenants. In someconfigurations, tenant spaces can be divided into logical segmentsand/or networks and separated from logical segments and/or networksassociated with other tenants.

Any of leaf routers 104, servers 106, hypervisors 108, and VMs 110 caninclude capturing agent 116 (also referred to as a “sensor”) configuredto capture network data, and report any portion of the captured data tocollector 118. Capturing agents 116 can be processes, agents, modules,drivers, or components deployed on a respective system (e.g., a server,VM, hypervisor, leaf router, etc.), configured to capture network datafor the respective system (e.g., data received or transmitted by therespective system), and report some or all of the captured data tocollector 118.

For example, a VM capturing agent can run as a process, kernel module,or kernel driver on the guest operating system installed in a VM andconfigured to capture data (e.g., network and/or system data) processed(e.g., sent, received, generated, etc.) by the VM. Additionally, ahypervisor capturing agent can run as a process, kernel module, orkernel driver on the host operating system installed at the hypervisorlayer and configured to capture data (e.g., network and/or system data)processed (e.g., sent, received, generated, etc.) by the hypervisor. Aserver capturing agent can run as a process, kernel module, or kerneldriver on the host operating system of a server and configured tocapture data (e.g., network and/or system data) processed (e.g., sent,received, generated, etc.) by the server. And a network device capturingagent can run as a process or component in a network device, such asleaf routers 104, and configured to capture data (e.g., network and/orsystem data) processed (e.g., sent, received, generated, etc.) by thenetwork device.

Capturing agents 116 or sensors can be configured to report the observeddata and/or metadata about one or more packets, flows, communications,processes, events, and/or activities to collector 118. For example,capturing agents 116 can capture network data as well as informationabout the system or host of the capturing agents 116 (e.g., where thecapturing agents 116 are deployed). Such information can also include,for example, data or metadata of active or previously active processesof the system, operating system user identifiers, kernel modules loadedor used, network software characteristics (e.g., software switch,virtual network card, etc.), metadata of files on the system, systemalerts, networking information, etc. Capturing agents 116 may alsoanalyze all the processes running on the respective VMs, hypervisors,servers, or network devices to determine specifically which process isresponsible for a particular flow of network traffic. Similarly,capturing agents 116 may determine which operating system user(s) isresponsible for a given flow. Reported data from capturing agents 116can provide details or statistics particular to one or more tenants. Forexample, reported data from a subset of capturing agents 116 deployedthroughout devices or elements in a tenant space can provide informationabout the performance, use, quality, events, processes, security status,characteristics, statistics, patterns, conditions, configurations,topology, and/or any other information for the particular tenant space.

Collectors 118 can be one or more devices, modules, workloads and/orprocesses capable of receiving data from capturing agents 116.Collectors 118 can thus collect reports and data from capturing agents116. Collectors 118 can be deployed anywhere in network environment 100and/or even on remote networks capable of communicating with networkenvironment 100. For example, one or more collectors can be deployedwithin fabric 112 or on one or more of the servers 106. One or morecollectors can be deployed outside of fabric 112 but connected to one ormore leaf routers 104. Collectors 118 can be part of servers 106 and/orseparate servers or devices (e.g., device 114). Collectors 118 can alsobe implemented in a cluster of servers.

Collectors 118 can be configured to collect data from capturing agents116. In addition, collectors 118 can be implemented in one or moreservers in a distributed fashion. As previously noted, collectors 118can include one or more collectors. Moreover, each collector can beconfigured to receive reported data from all capturing agents 116 or asubset of capturing agents 116. For example, a collector can be assignedto a subset of capturing agents 116 so the data received by thatspecific collector is limited to data from the subset of capturingagents.

Collectors 118 can be configured to aggregate data from all capturingagents 116 and/or a subset of capturing agents 116. Moreover, collectors118 can be configured to analyze some or all of the data reported bycapturing agents 116. For example, collectors 118 can include analyticsengines (e.g., engines 120) for analyzing collected data. Environment100 can also include separate analytics engines 120 configured toanalyze the data reported to collectors 118. For example, engines 120can be configured to receive collected data from collectors 118 andaggregate the data, analyze the data (individually and/or aggregated),generate reports, identify conditions, compute statistics, visualizereported data, troubleshoot conditions, visualize the network and/orportions of the network (e.g., a tenant space), generate alerts,identify patterns, calculate misconfigurations, identify errors,generate suggestions, generate testing, and/or perform any otheranalytics functions.

While collectors 118 and engines 120 are shown as separate entities,this is for illustration purposes as other configurations are alsocontemplated herein. For example, any of collectors 118 and engines 120can be part of a same or separate entity. Moreover, any of thecollector, aggregation, and analytics functions can be implemented byone entity (e.g., collectors 118) or separately implemented by multipleentities (e.g., engine 120 and/or collectors 118).

Each of the capturing agents 116 can use a respective address (e.g.,internet protocol (IP) address, port number, etc.) of their host to sendinformation to collectors 118 and/or any other destination. Collectors118 may also be associated with their respective addresses such as IPaddresses. Moreover, capturing agents 116 can periodically sendinformation about flows they observe to collectors 118. Capturing agents116 can be configured to report each and every flow they observe.Capturing agents 116 can report a list of flows that were active duringa period of time (e.g., between the current time and the time of thelast report). The consecutive periods of time of observance can berepresented as pre-defined or adjustable time series. The series can beadjusted to a specific level of granularity. Thus, the time periods canbe adjusted to control the level of details in statistics and can becustomized based on specific requirements, such as security,scalability, storage, etc. The time series information can also beimplemented to focus on more important flows or components (e.g., VMs)by varying the time intervals. The communication channel between acapturing agent and collector 118 can also create a flow in everyreporting interval. Thus, the information transmitted or reported bycapturing agents 116 can also include information about the flow createdby the communication channel.

When referring to a capturing agent's host herein, the host can refer tothe physical device hosting the capturing agent (e.g., server,networking device, etc.), the virtualized environment hosting thecapturing agent (e.g., hypervisor, virtual machine, etc.), the operatingsystem hosting the capturing agent (e.g., guest operating system, hostoperating system, etc.), and/or system layer hosting the capturing agent(e.g., hardware layer, operating system layer, hypervisor layer, virtualmachine layer, etc.).

FIG. 2A illustrates a schematic diagram of an example capturing agentdeployment 200 in a server 106 _(A). Server 106 _(A) can execute andhost one or more VMs 110 _(A-N) (collectively “110”). VMs 110 can beconfigured to run workloads (e.g., applications, services, processes,functions, etc.) based on hardware resources 210 on server 106 _(A). VMs110 can run on guest operating systems 204 _(A-N) (collectively “204”)on a virtual operating platform provided by hypervisor 108 _(A). Each VM110 can run a respective guest operating system 204 which can be thesame or different as other guest operating systems 204 associated withother VMs 110 on server 106 _(A). Each of guest operating systems 204can execute one or more processes, which may in turn be programs,applications, modules, drivers, services, widgets, etc. Moreover, eachVM 110 can have one or more network addresses, such as an internetprotocol (IP) address. VMs 110 can thus communicate with hypervisor 108_(A), server 106 _(A), and/or any remote devices or networks using theone or more network addresses.

Hypervisor 108 _(A) (otherwise known as a virtual machine manager ormonitor) can be a layer of software, firmware, and/or hardware thatcreates and runs VMs 110. Guest operating systems 204 running on VMs 110can share virtualized hardware resources created by hypervisor 108 _(A).The virtualized hardware resources can provide the illusion of separatehardware components. Moreover, the virtualized hardware resources canperform as physical hardware components (e.g., memory, storage,processor, network interface, peripherals, etc.), and can be driven byhardware resources 210 on server 106 _(A). Hypervisor 108 _(A) can haveone or more network addresses, such as an internet protocol (IP)address, to communicate with other devices, components, or networks. Forexample, hypervisor 108 _(A) can have a dedicated IP address which itcan use to communicate with VMs 110, server 106 _(A), and/or any remotedevices or networks.

Hypervisor 108 _(A) can be assigned a network address, such as an IP,with a global scope. For example, hypervisor 108 _(A) can have an IPthat can be reached or seen by VMs 110 _(A-N) as well any other devicesin the network environment 100 illustrated in FIG. 1. On the other hand,VMs 110 can have a network address, such as an IP, with a local scope.For example, VM 110 _(A) can have an IP that is within a local networksegment where VM 110 _(A) resides and/or which may not be directlyreached or seen from other network segments in the network environment100.

Hardware resources 210 of server 106 _(A) can provide the underlyingphysical hardware that drive operations and functionalities provided byserver 106 _(A), hypervisor 108 _(A), and VMs 110. Hardware resources210 can include, for example, one or more memory resources, one or morestorage resources, one or more communication interfaces, one or moreprocessors, one or more circuit boards, one or more buses, one or moreextension cards, one or more power supplies, one or more antennas, oneor more peripheral components, etc. Additional examples of hardwareresources are described below with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11A-B.

Server 106 _(A) can also include one or more host operating systems (notshown). The number of host operating systems can vary by configuration.For example, some configurations can include a dual boot configurationthat allows server 106 _(A) to boot into one of multiple host operatingsystems. In other configurations, server 106 _(A) may run a single hostoperating system. Host operating systems can run on hardware resources210. In some cases, hypervisor 108 _(A) can run on, or utilize, a hostoperating system on server 106 _(A). Each of the host operating systemscan execute one or more processes, which may be programs, applications,modules, drivers, services, widgets, etc.

Server 106 _(A) can also have one or more network addresses, such as anIP address, to communicate with other devices, components, or networks.For example, server 106 _(A) can have an IP address assigned to acommunications interface from hardware resources 210, which it can useto communicate with VMs 110, hypervisor 108 _(A), leaf router 104 _(A)in FIG. 1, collectors 118 in FIG. 1, and/or any remote devices ornetworks.

VM capturing agents 202 _(A-N) (collectively “202”) can be deployed onone or more of VMs 110. VM capturing agents 202 can be data and packetinspection agents or sensors deployed on VMs 110 to capture packets,flows, processes, events, traffic, and/or any data flowing into, out of,or through VMs 110. VM capturing agents 202 can be configured to exportor report any data collected or captured by the capturing agents 202 toa remote entity, such as collectors 118, for example. VM capturingagents 202 can communicate or report such data using a network addressof the respective VMs 110 (e.g., VM IP address).

VM capturing agents 202 can capture and report any traffic (e.g.,packets, flows, etc.) sent, received, generated, and/or processed by VMs110. For example, capturing agents 202 can report every packet or flowof communication sent and received by VMs 110. Such communicationchannel between capturing agents 202 and collectors 108 creates a flowin every monitoring period or interval and the flow generated bycapturing agents 202 may be denoted as a control flow. Moreover, anycommunication sent or received by VMs 110, including data reported fromcapturing agents 202, can create a network flow. VM capturing agents 202can report such flows in the form of a control flow to a remote device,such as collectors 118 illustrated in FIG. 1.

VM capturing agents 202 can report each flow separately or aggregatedwith other flows. When reporting a flow via a control flow, VM capturingagents 202 can include a capturing agent identifier that identifiescapturing agents 202 as reporting the associated flow. VM capturingagents 202 can also include in the control flow a flow identifier, an IPaddress, a timestamp, metadata, a process ID, an OS username associatedwith the process ID, a host or environment descriptor (e.g., type ofsoftware bridge or virtual network card, type of host such as ahypervisor or VM, etc.), and any other information, as further describedbelow. In addition, capturing agents 202 can append the process and userinformation (i.e., which process and/or user is associated with aparticular flow) to the control flow. The additional information asidentified above can be applied to the control flow as labels.Alternatively, the additional information can be included as part of aheader, a trailer, or a payload.

VM capturing agents 202 can also report multiple flows as a set offlows. When reporting a set of flows, VM capturing agents 202 caninclude a flow identifier for the set of flows and/or a flow identifierfor each flow in the set of flows. VM capturing agents 202 can alsoinclude one or more timestamps and other information as previouslyexplained.

VM capturing agents 202 can run as a process, kernel module, or kerneldriver on guest operating systems 204 of VMs 110. VM capturing agents202 can thus monitor any traffic sent, received, or processed by VMs110, any processes running on guest operating systems 204, any users anduser activities on guest operating system 204, any workloads on VMs 110,etc.

Hypervisor capturing agent 206 can be deployed on hypervisor 108 _(A).Hypervisor capturing agent 206 can be a data inspection agent or sensordeployed on hypervisor 108 _(A) to capture traffic (e.g., packets,flows, etc.) and/or data flowing through hypervisor 108 _(A). Hypervisorcapturing agent 206 can be configured to export or report any datacollected or captured by hypervisor capturing agent 206 to a remoteentity, such as collectors 118, for example. Hypervisor capturing agent206 can communicate or report such data using a network address ofhypervisor 108 _(A), such as an IP address of hypervisor 108 _(A).

Because hypervisor 108 _(A) can see traffic and data originating fromVMs 110, hypervisor capturing agent 206 can also capture and report anydata (e.g., traffic data) associated with VMs 110. For example,hypervisor capturing agent 206 can report every packet or flow ofcommunication sent or received by VMs 110 and/or VM capturing agents202. Moreover, any communication sent or received by hypervisor 108_(A), including data reported from hypervisor capturing agent 206, cancreate a network flow. Hypervisor capturing agent 206 can report suchflows in the form of a control flow to a remote device, such ascollectors 118 illustrated in FIG. 1. Hypervisor capturing agent 206 canreport each flow separately and/or in combination with other flows ordata.

When reporting a flow, hypervisor capturing agent 206 can include acapturing agent identifier that identifies hypervisor capturing agent206 as reporting the flow. Hypervisor capturing agent 206 can alsoinclude in the control flow a flow identifier, an IP address, atimestamp, metadata, a process ID, and any other information, asexplained below. In addition, capturing agents 206 can append theprocess and user information (i.e., which process and/or user isassociated with a particular flow) to the control flow. The additionalinformation as identified above can be applied to the control flow aslabels. Alternatively, the additional information can be included aspart of a header, a trailer, or a payload.

Hypervisor capturing agent 206 can also report multiple flows as a setof flows. When reporting a set of flows, hypervisor capturing agent 206can include a flow identifier for the set of flows and/or a flowidentifier for each flow in the set of flows. Hypervisor capturing agent206 can also include one or more timestamps and other information aspreviously explained, such as process and user information.

As previously explained, any communication captured or reported by VMcapturing agents 202 can flow through hypervisor 108 _(A). Thus,hypervisor capturing agent 206 can observe and capture any flows orpackets reported by VM capturing agents 202, including any controlflows. Accordingly, hypervisor capturing agent 206 can also report anypackets or flows reported by VM capturing agents 202 and any controlflows generated by VM capturing agents 202. For example, VM capturingagent 202 _(A) on VM 1 (110 _(A)) captures flow 1 (“F1”) and reports F1to collector 118 on FIG. 1. Hypervisor capturing agent 206 on hypervisor108 _(A) can also see and capture F1, as F1 would traverse hypervisor108 _(A) when being sent or received by VM 1 (110 _(A)). Accordingly,hypervisor capturing agent 206 on hypervisor 108 _(A) can also report F1to collector 118. Thus, collector 118 can receive a report of F1 from VMcapturing agent 202 _(A) on VM 1 (110 _(A)) and another report of F1from hypervisor capturing agent 206 on hypervisor 108 _(A).

When reporting F1, hypervisor capturing agent 206 can report F1 as amessage or report that is separate from the message or report of F1transmitted by VM capturing agent 202 _(A) on VM 1 (110 _(A)). However,hypervisor capturing agent 206 can also, or otherwise, report F1 as amessage or report that includes or appends the message or report of F1transmitted by VM capturing agent 202 _(A) on VM 1 (110 _(A)). In otherwords, hypervisor capturing agent 206 can report F1 as a separatemessage or report from VM capturing agent 202 _(A)'s message or reportof F1, and/or a same message or report that includes both a report of F1by hypervisor capturing agent 206 and the report of F1 by VM capturingagent 202 _(A) at VM 1 (110 _(A)). In this way, VM capturing agents 202at VMs 110 can report packets or flows received or sent by VMs 110, andhypervisor capturing agent 206 at hypervisor 108 _(A) can report packetsor flows received or sent by hypervisor 108 _(A), including any flows orpackets received or sent by VMs 110 and/or reported by VM capturingagents 202.

Hypervisor capturing agent 206 can run as a process, kernel module, orkernel driver on the host operating system associated with hypervisor108 _(A). Hypervisor capturing agent 206 can thus monitor any trafficsent and received by hypervisor 108 _(A), any processes associated withhypervisor 108 _(A), etc.

Server 106 _(A) can also have server capturing agent 208 running on it.Server capturing agent 208 can be a data inspection agent or sensordeployed on server 106 _(A) to capture data (e.g., packets, flows,traffic data, etc.) on server 106 _(A). Server capturing agent 208 canbe configured to export or report any data collected or captured byserver capturing agent 206 to a remote entity, such as collector 118,for example. Server capturing agent 208 can communicate or report suchdata using a network address of server 106 _(A), such as an IP addressof server 106 _(A).

Server capturing agent 208 can capture and report any packet or flow ofcommunication associated with server 106 _(A). For example, capturingagent 208 can report every packet or flow of communication sent orreceived by one or more communication interfaces of server 106 _(A).Moreover, any communication sent or received by server 106 _(A),including data reported from capturing agents 202 and 206, can create anetwork flow associated with server 106 _(A). Server capturing agent 208can report such flows in the form of a control flow to a remote device,such as collector 118 illustrated in FIG. 1. Server capturing agent 208can report each flow separately or in combination. When reporting aflow, server capturing agent 208 can include a capturing agentidentifier that identifies server capturing agent 208 as reporting theassociated flow. Server capturing agent 208 can also include in thecontrol flow a flow identifier, an IP address, a timestamp, metadata, aprocess ID, and any other information. In addition, capturing agent 208can append the process and user information (i.e., which process and/oruser is associated with a particular flow) to the control flow. Theadditional information as identified above can be applied to the controlflow as labels. Alternatively, the additional information can beincluded as part of a header, a trailer, or a payload.

Server capturing agent 208 can also report multiple flows as a set offlows. When reporting a set of flows, server capturing agent 208 caninclude a flow identifier for the set of flows and/or a flow identifierfor each flow in the set of flows. Server capturing agent 208 can alsoinclude one or more timestamps and other information as previouslyexplained.

Any communications captured or reported by capturing agents 202 and 206can flow through server 106 _(A). Thus, server capturing agent 208 canobserve or capture any flows or packets reported by capturing agents 202and 206. In other words, network data observed by capturing agents 202and 206 inside VMs 110 and hypervisor 108 _(A) can be a subset of thedata observed by server capturing agent 208 on server 106 _(A).Accordingly, server capturing agent 208 can report any packets or flowsreported by capturing agents 202 and 206 and any control flows generatedby capturing agents 202 and 206. For example, capturing agent 202 _(A)on VM 1 (110 _(A)) captures flow 1 (F1) and reports F1 to collector 118as illustrated on FIG. 1. Capturing agent 206 on hypervisor 108 _(A) canalso observe and capture F1, as F1 would traverse hypervisor 108 _(A)when being sent or received by VM 1 (110 _(A)). In addition, capturingagent 206 on server 106 _(A) can also see and capture F1, as F1 wouldtraverse server 106 _(A) when being sent or received by VM 1 (110 _(A))and hypervisor 108 _(A). Accordingly, capturing agent 208 can alsoreport F1 to collector 118. Thus, collector 118 can receive a report(i.e., control flow) regarding F1 from capturing agent 202 _(A) on VM 1(110 _(A)), capturing agent 206 on hypervisor 108 _(A), and capturingagent 208 on server 106 _(A).

When reporting F1, server capturing agent 208 can report F1 as a messageor report that is separate from any messages or reports of F1transmitted by capturing agent 202 _(A) on VM 1 (110 _(A)) or capturingagent 206 on hypervisor 108 _(A). However, server capturing agent 208can also, or otherwise, report F1 as a message or report that includesor appends the messages or reports or metadata of F1 transmitted bycapturing agent 202 _(A) on VM 1 (110 _(A)) and capturing agent 206 onhypervisor 108 _(A). In other words, server capturing agent 208 canreport F1 as a separate message or report from the messages or reportsof F1 from capturing agent 202 _(A) and capturing agent 206, and/or asame message or report that includes a report of F1 by capturing agent202 _(A), capturing agent 206, and capturing agent 208. In this way,capturing agents 202 at VMs 110 can report packets or flows received orsent by VMs 110, capturing agent 206 at hypervisor 108 _(A) can reportpackets or flows received or sent by hypervisor 108 _(A), including anyflows or packets received or sent by VMs 110 and reported by capturingagents 202, and capturing agent 208 at server 106 _(A) can reportpackets or flows received or sent by server 106 _(A), including anyflows or packets received or sent by VMs 110 and reported by capturingagents 202, and any flows or packets received or sent by hypervisor 108_(A) and reported by capturing agent 206.

Server capturing agent 208 can run as a process, kernel module, orkernel driver on the host operating system or a hardware component ofserver 106 _(A). Server capturing agent 208 can thus monitor any trafficsent and received by server 106 _(A), any processes associated withserver 106 _(A), etc.

In addition to network data, capturing agents 202, 206, and 208 cancapture additional information about the system or environment in whichthey reside. For example, capturing agents 202, 206, and 208 can capturedata or metadata of active or previously active processes of theirrespective system or environment, operating system user identifiers,metadata of files on their respective system or environment, timestamps,network addressing information, flow identifiers, capturing agentidentifiers, etc. Capturing agents 202, 206, and 208

Moreover, capturing agents 202, 206, 208 are not specific to anyoperating system environment, hypervisor environment, networkenvironment, or hardware environment. Thus, capturing agents 202, 206,and 208 can operate in any environment.

As previously explained, capturing agents 202, 206, and 208 can sendinformation about the network traffic they observe. This information canbe sent to one or more remote devices, such as one or more servers,collectors, engines, etc. Each capturing agent can be configured to sendrespective information using a network address, such as an IP address,and any other communication details, such as port number, to one or moredestination addresses or locations. Capturing agents 202, 206, and 208can send metadata about one or more flows, packets, communications,processes, events, etc.

Capturing agents 202, 206, and 208 can periodically report informationabout each flow or packet they observe. The information reported cancontain a list of flows or packets that were active during a period oftime (e.g., between the current time and the time at which the lastinformation was reported). The communication channel between thecapturing agent and the destination can create a flow in every interval.For example, the communication channel between capturing agent 208 andcollector 118 can create a control flow. Thus, the information reportedby a capturing agent can also contain information about this controlflow. For example, the information reported by capturing agent 208 tocollector 118 can include a list of flows or packets that were active athypervisor 108 _(A) during a period of time, as well as informationabout the communication channel between capturing agent 206 andcollector 118 used to report the information by capturing agent 206.

FIG. 2B illustrates a schematic diagram of example capturing agentdeployment 220 in an example network device. The network device isdescribed as leaf router 104 _(A), as illustrated in FIG. 1. However,this is for explanation purposes. The network device can be any othernetwork device, such as any other switch, router, etc.

In this example, leaf router 104 _(A) can include network resources 222,such as memory, storage, communication, processing, input, output, andother types of resources. Leaf router 104 _(A) can also includeoperating system environment 224. The operating system environment 224can include any operating system, such as a network operating system,embedded operating system, etc. Operating system environment 224 caninclude processes, functions, and applications for performingnetworking, routing, switching, forwarding, policy implementation,messaging, monitoring, and other types of operations.

Leaf router 104 _(A) can also include capturing agent 226. Capturingagent 226 can be an agent or sensor configured to capture network data,such as flows or packets, sent received, or processed by leaf router 104_(A). Capturing agent 226 can also be configured to capture otherinformation, such as processes, statistics, users, alerts, statusinformation, device information, etc. Moreover, capturing agent 226 canbe configured to report captured data to a remote device or network,such as collector 118 shown in FIG. 1, for example. Capturing agent 226can report information using one or more network addresses associatedwith leaf router 104 _(A) or collector 118. For example, capturing agent226 can be configured to report information using an IP assigned to anactive communications interface on leaf router 104 _(A).

Leaf router 104 _(A) can be configured to route traffic to and fromother devices or networks, such as server 106 _(A). Accordingly,capturing agent 226 can also report data reported by other capturingagents on other devices. For example, leaf router 104 _(A) can beconfigured to route traffic sent and received by server 106 _(A) toother devices. Thus, data reported from capturing agents deployed onserver 106 _(A), such as VM and hypervisor capturing agents on server106 _(A), would also be observed by capturing agent 226 and can thus bereported by capturing agent 226 as data observed at leaf router 104_(A). Such report can be a control flow generated by capturing agent226. Data reported by the VM and hypervisor capturing agents on server106 _(A) can therefore be a subset of the data reported by capturingagent 226.

Capturing agent 226 can run as a process or component (e.g., firmware,module, hardware device, etc.) in leaf router 104 _(A). Moreover,capturing agent 226 can be installed on leaf router 104 _(A) as asoftware or firmware agent. In some configurations, leaf router 104 _(A)itself can act as capturing agent 226. Moreover, capturing agent 226 canrun within operating system 224 and/or separate from operating system224.

FIG. 2C illustrates a schematic diagram of example reporting system 240in an example capturing agent topology. Leaf router 104 _(A) can routepackets or traffic 242 between fabric 112 and server 106 _(A),hypervisor 108 _(A), and VM 110 _(A). Packets or traffic 242 between VM110 _(A) and leaf router 104 _(A) can flow through hypervisor 108 _(A)and server 106 _(A). Packets or traffic 242 between hypervisor 108 _(A)and leaf router 104 _(A) can flow through server 106 _(A). Finally,packets or traffic 242 between server 106 _(A) and leaf router 104 _(A)can flow directly to leaf router 104 _(A). However, in some cases,packets or traffic 242 between server 106 _(A) and leaf router 104 _(A)can flow through one or more intervening devices or networks, such as aswitch or a firewall.

Moreover, VM capturing agent 202 _(A) at VM 110 _(A), hypervisorcapturing agent 206 _(A) at hypervisor 108 _(A), network devicecapturing agent 226 at leaf router 104 _(A), and any server capturingagent at server 106 _(A) (e.g., capturing agent running on hostenvironment of server 106 _(A)) can send reports 244 (also referred toas control flows) to collector 118 based on the packets or traffic 242captured at each respective capturing agent. Reports 244 from VMcapturing agent 202 _(A) to collector 118 can flow through VM 110 _(A),hypervisor 108 _(A), server 106 _(A), and leaf router 104 _(A). Reports244 from hypervisor capturing agent 206 _(A) to collector 118 can flowthrough hypervisor 108 _(A), server 106 _(A), and leaf router 104 _(A).Reports 244 from any other server capturing agent at server 106 _(A) tocollector 118 can flow through server 106 _(A) and leaf router 104 _(A).Finally, reports 244 from network device capturing agent 226 tocollector 118 can flow through leaf router 104 _(A). Although reports244 are depicted as being routed separately from traffic 242 in FIG. 2C,one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that reports 244 andtraffic 242 can be transmitted through the same communicationchannel(s).

Reports 244 can include any portion of packets or traffic 242 capturedat the respective capturing agents. Reports 244 can also include otherinformation, such as timestamps, process information, capturing agentidentifiers, flow identifiers, flow statistics, notifications, logs,user information, system information, etc. Some or all of thisinformation can be appended to reports 244 as one or more labels,metadata, or as part of the packet(s)′ header, trailer, or payload. Forexample, if a user opens a browser on VM 110 _(A) and navigates toexamplewebsite.com, VM capturing agent 202 _(A) of VM 110 _(A) candetermine which user (i.e., operating system user) of VM 110 _(A) (e.g.,username “johndoe85”) and which process being executed on the operatingsystem of VM 110 _(A) (e.g., “chrome.exe”) were responsible for theparticular network flow to and from examplewebsite.com. Once suchinformation is determined, the information can be included in report 244as labels for example, and report 244 can be transmitted from VMcapturing agent 202 _(A) to collector 118. Such additional informationcan help system 240 to gain insight into flow information at the processand user level, for instance. This information can be used for security,optimization, and determining structures and dependencies within system240.

Moreover, reports 244 can be transmitted to collector 118 periodicallyas new packets or traffic 242 are captured by a capturing agent.Further, each capturing agent can send a single report or multiplereports to collector 118. For example, each of the capturing agents canbe configured to send a report to collector 118 for every flow, packet,message, communication, or network data received, transmitted, and/orgenerated by its respective host (e.g., VM 110 _(A), hypervisor 108_(A), server 106 _(A), and leaf router 104 _(A)). As such, collector 118can receive a report of a same packet from multiple capturing agents.

For example, a packet received by VM 110 _(A) from fabric 112 can becaptured and reported by VM capturing agent 202 _(A). Since the packetreceived by VM 110 _(A) will also flow through leaf router 104 _(A) andhypervisor 108 _(A), it can also be captured and reported by hypervisorcapturing agent 206 _(A) and network device capturing agent 226. Thus,for a packet received by VM 110 _(A) from fabric 112, collector 118 canreceive a report of the packet from VM capturing agent 202 _(A),hypervisor capturing agent 206 _(A), and network device capturing agent226.

Similarly, a packet sent by VM 110 _(A) to fabric 112 can be capturedand reported by VM capturing agent 202 _(A). Since the packet sent by VM110 _(A) will also flow through leaf router 104 _(A) and hypervisor 108_(A), it can also be captured and reported by hypervisor capturing agent206 _(A) and network device capturing agent 226. Thus, for a packet sentby VM 110 _(A) to fabric 112, collector 118 can receive a report of thepacket from VM capturing agent 202 _(A), hypervisor capturing agent 206_(A), and network device capturing agent 226.

On the other hand, a packet originating at, or destined to, hypervisor108 _(A), can be captured and reported by hypervisor capturing agent 206_(A) and network device capturing agent 226, but not VM capturing agent202 _(A), as such packet may not flow through VM 110 _(A). Moreover, apacket originating at, or destined to, leaf router 104 _(A), will becaptured and reported by network device capturing agent 226, but not VMcapturing agent 202 _(A), hypervisor capturing agent 206 _(A), or anyother capturing agent on server 106 _(A), as such packet may not flowthrough VM 110 _(A), hypervisor 108 _(A), or server 106 _(A).

Each of the capturing agents 202 _(A), 206 _(A), 226 can include arespective unique capturing agent identifier on each of reports 244 itsends to collector 118, to allow collector 118 to determine whichcapturing agent sent the report. Reports 244 can be used to analyzenetwork and/or system data and conditions for troubleshooting, security,visualization, configuration, planning, and management. Capturing agentidentifiers in reports 244 can also be used to determine which capturingagents reported what flows. This information can then be used todetermine capturing agent placement and topology, as further describedbelow, as well as mapping individual flows to processes and users. Suchadditional insights gained can be useful for analyzing the data inreports 244, as well as troubleshooting, security, visualization,configuration, planning, and management.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example configuration 300for collecting capturing agent reports (i.e., control flows). Inconfiguration 300, traffic between fabric 112 and VM 110 _(A) isconfigured to flow through hypervisor 108 _(A). Moreover, trafficbetween fabric 112 and hypervisor 108 _(A) is configured to flow throughleaf router 104 _(A).

VM capturing agent 202 _(A) can be configured to report to collector 118traffic sent, received, or processed by VM 110 _(A). Hypervisorcapturing agent 210 can be configured to report to collector 118 trafficsent, received, or processed by hypervisor 108 _(A). Finally, networkdevice capturing agent 226 can be configured to report to collector 118traffic sent, received, or processed by leaf router 104 _(A).

Collector 118 can thus receive flows 402 from VM capturing agent 202_(A), flows 304 from hypervisor capturing agent 206 _(A), and flows 406from network device capturing agent 226. Flows 302, 304, and 306 caninclude control flows. Flows 302 can include flows captured by VMcapturing agent 202 _(A) at VM 110 _(A).

Flows 304 can include flows captured by hypervisor capturing agent 206_(A) at hypervisor 108 _(A). Flows captured by hypervisor capturingagent 206 _(A) can also include flows 302 captured by VM capturing agent202 _(A), as traffic sent and received by VM 110 _(A) will be receivedand observed by hypervisor 108 _(A) and captured by hypervisor capturingagent 206 _(A).

Flows 306 can include flows captured by network device capturing agent226 at leaf router 104 _(A). Flows captured by network device capturingagent 226 can also include flows 302 captured by VM capturing agent 202_(A) and flows 304 captured by hypervisor capturing agent 206 _(A), astraffic sent and received by VM 110 _(A) and hypervisor 108 _(A) isrouted through leaf router 104 _(A) and can thus be captured by networkdevice capturing agent 226.

Collector 118 can collect flows 302, 304, and 306, and store thereported data. Collector 118 can also forward some or all of flows 302,304, and 306, and/or any respective portion thereof, to engine 120.Engine 120 can process the information, including any information aboutthe capturing agents (e.g., agent placement, agent environment, etc.),received from collector 118 to identify patterns, conditions, statuses,network or device characteristics; log statistics or history details;aggregate and/or process the data; generate reports, timelines, alerts,graphical user interfaces; detect errors, events, inconsistencies;troubleshoot networks or devices; configure networks or devices; deployservices or devices; reconfigure services, applications, devices, ornetworks; etc. In particular, collector 118 or engine 120 can mapindividual flows that traverse VM 110 _(A), hypervisor 108 _(A), and/orleaf router 104 _(A) to specific processes or users that are associatedwith VM 110 _(A), hypervisor 108 _(A), and/or leaf router 104 _(A). Forexample, collector 118 or engine 120 can determine that a particularflow that originated from VM 110 _(A) and destined for fabric 112 wassent by process X on VM 110 _(A). It may be determined that the sameflow was received by a process named Z on hypervisor 108 _(A) andforwarded to a process named Won leaf router 104 _(A).

While engine 120 is illustrated as a separate entity, otherconfigurations are also contemplated herein. For example, engine 120 canbe part of collector 118 and/or a separate entity. Indeed, engine 120can include one or more devices, applications, modules, databases,processing components, elements, etc. Moreover, collector 118 canrepresent one or more collectors. For example, in some configurations,collector 118 can include multiple collection systems or entities, whichcan reside in one or more networks.

Having disclosed some basic system components and concepts, thedisclosure now turns to the exemplary method embodiments shown in FIG.4. For the sake of clarity, the method is described in terms ofcapturing agent 116, as shown in FIG. 1, configured to practice themethod. However, the example methods can be practiced by any software orhardware components, devices, etc. heretofore disclosed. The stepsoutlined herein are exemplary and can be implemented in any combinationthereof in any order, including combinations that exclude, add, ormodify certain steps.

At step 400, server 106 _(A) can run capturing agent 116 deployed on avirtualization environment of the server 106 _(A). The virtualizedenvironment can be a hypervisor or a virtual machine. For example, thevirtualized environment can be hypervisor 108 _(A), VM 110 _(A), or VM110 _(B). Thus, in this example, capturing agent 116 can be deployed inhypervisor 108 _(A), VM 110 _(A), or VM 110 _(B).

The virtualized environment can include a virtual network device. Forexample, if the virtualized environment is a VM, the virtualizedenvironment can include a virtual network interface card (VNIC)configured to perform routing and networking operations to allow the VMto communicate with other network devices or components. As anotherexample, if the virtualized environment is a hypervisor, then thevirtualized environment can include a software switch configured toroute traffic to and from the virtualized environment, such as a LINUXbridge or an OPEN VSWITCH (OVS).

At step 402, the capturing agent 116 can query the virtualizationenvironment for one or more environment parameters, and at step 404, thecapturing agent 116 can receive a response from the virtualizedenvironment including the one or more environment parameters. Therequested parameters can include what services are running in thevirtualized environment (e.g., which services is the OS running), whatkernel modules have been loaded, what kernel modules are responsible forwhat services or operations, what settings have been defined for thevirtualized environment, what libraries are managing the virtualizedenvironment, what is the network address scope (e.g., IP scope) of thenetwork address assigned to the network device used by the virtualizedenvironment (e.g., VNIC, OVS, etc.), etc.

At step 406, the capturing agent 116 can determine, based on the one ormore environment parameters, whether the virtualization environmentwhere the capturing agent 116 is deployed is a hypervisor or a virtualmachine. For example, the capturing agent 116 can determine that it iscurrently deployed in hypervisor 108 _(A), VM 110 _(A), or VM 110 _(B).The capturing agent 116 can also determine what type of switch ornetwork device is running in the virtualized environment. For example,the capturing agent 116 can determine if the virtualized environment isrunning a virtual network interface card (VNIC), a LINUX softwarebridge, an OPEN VSWITCH, etc.

As previously mentioned, the capturing agent 116 can use the one or moreparameters to determine the type of environment it is deployed in (e.g.,a hypervisor or VM) and what type of network device or switch is runningin its environment. For example, the scope of the network address usedby the network device or switch running in the capturing agent'senvironment can indicate whether the capturing agent 116 is running in aVM with a VNIC, or a hypervisor with a software bridge or switch. Toillustrate, if the virtualized environment—or the network device,switch, or bridge on the virtualized environment—is assigned an IPaddress with a global scope in the network, the capturing agent 116 caninfer that the virtualized environment is a hypervisor and thehypervisor is running a software bridge or switch. On the other hand, ifthe virtualized environment—or the network device, switch, or bridge onthe virtualized environment—is not assigned an IP address or is assignedan IP address with a local scope in the network, the capturing agent 116can infer that the virtualized environment is a VM and the VM is using aVNIC to route traffic. Thus, the scope of the network address (e.g.,global versus local scope) can indicate whether the virtualizedenvironment is a hypervisor or a VM, and whether the virtualizedenvironment is using a VNIC to route traffic or a softwarebridge/switch.

As another example, the capturing agent 116 can determine what type ofvirtual networking device (e.g., VNIC, LINUX bridge, OVS, etc.) is usedin the capturing agent's environment based on the services running onthe associated OS, the modules loaded (e.g., KVM modules, etc.), thedrivers loaded, the virtual interfaces activated, etc. The capturingagent 116 can query its virtualized environment (e.g., the associatedOS) for this information to determine what type of virtual networkingdevice is associated with the capturing agent 116.

The capturing agent 116 can then identify its virtualized environment(e.g., hypervisor, VM, etc.), as well as the type of virtual networkingdevice used by the capturing agent's virtualized environment (e.g.,VNIC, LINUX bridge, OVS, software switch, etc.). The capturing agent 116can also report this information to another device, such as a collector118 and/or engine 120. For example, when sending a report to collector118, the capturing agent 116 can include one or more fields in thereport where the capturing agent 116 can identify its virtualizedenvironment and the type of virtual networking device used by thevirtualized environment.

The receiving device (e.g., collector 118 and/or engine 120) can thenassociate the capturing agent 116 and any information reported by thecapturing agent 116 with a virtualized environment and a type of virtualnetworking device. As more capturing agents report their virtualizedenvironment and virtual networking device, the capturing agents andtheir reported data can be associated with their respective virtualizedenvironment and virtual networking device. This information can helpinterpret and manage the data reported by a capturing agent on thenetwork 100. For example, knowing the virtualized environment andnetworking device of a capturing agent can provide context to the datareported by the capturing agent, and can help understand the behaviorreported in the data.

Knowing the virtualized environment and networking device of a capturingagent can also be used to identify a topology of various capturingagent's. For example, this information can help determine which VMs andrespective capturing agents are hosted by which hypervisors on thenetwork 100.

Furthermore, knowing the virtualized environment and virtual networkingdevice of a capturing agent can help understand the behavior of thereported data. For example, knowing the type of software switch orbridge implemented in a virtualized environment hosting a capturingagent can help understand the forwarding model, policies, rules, andprotocols used by that software switch or bridge, and can help betterunderstand the data reported by the capturing agents.

FIG. 5 illustrates a listing 500 of example fields on a capturing agentreport. The listing 500 can include one or more fields, such as:

Flow identifier (e.g., unique identifier associated with the flow).

Capturing agent identifier (e.g., data uniquely identifying reportingcapturing agent).

Timestamp (e.g., time of event, report, etc.).

Interval (e.g., time between current report and previous report,interval between flows or packets, interval between events, etc.).

Duration (e.g., duration of event, duration of communication, durationof flow, duration of report, etc.).

Flow direction (e.g., egress flow, ingress flow, etc.).

Application identifier (e.g., identifier of application associated withflow, process, event, or data).

Port (e.g., source port, destination port, layer 4 port, etc.).

Destination address (e.g., interface address associated withdestination, IP address, domain name, network address, hardware address,virtual address, physical address, etc.).

Source address (e.g., interface address associated with source, IPaddress, domain name, network address, hardware address, virtualaddress, physical address, etc.).

Interface (e.g., interface address, interface information, etc.).

Protocol (e.g., layer 4 protocol, layer 3 protocol, etc.).

Event (e.g., description of event, event identifier, etc.).

Flag (e.g., layer 3 flag, flag options, etc.).

Tag (e.g., virtual local area network tag, etc.).

Process (e.g., process identifier, etc.).

User (e.g., OS username, etc.).

Bytes (e.g., flow size, packet size, transmission size, etc.).

Sensor Type (e.g., the type of virtualized environment hosting thecapturing agent, such as hypervisor or VM; the type of virtual networkdevice, such as VNIC, LINUX bridge, OVS, software switch, etc.).

The listing 500 includes a non-limiting example of fields in a report.Other fields and data items are also contemplated herein, such ashandshake information, system information, network address associatedwith capturing agent or host, operating system environment information,network data or statistics, process statistics, system statistics, etc.The order in which these fields are illustrated is also exemplary andcan be rearranged in any other way. One or more of these fields can bepart of a header, a trailer, or a payload of in one or more packets.Moreover, one or more of these fields can be applied to the one or morepackets as labels. Each of the fields can include data, metadata, and/orany other information relevant to the fields.

Example Devices

FIG. 6 illustrates an example network device 610 according to someembodiments. Network device 610 includes a master central processingunit (CPU) 662, interfaces 668, and a bus 615 (e.g., a PCI bus). Whenacting under the control of appropriate software or firmware, the CPU662 is responsible for executing packet management, error detection,and/or routing functions. The CPU 662 preferably accomplishes all thesefunctions under the control of software including an operating systemand any appropriate applications software. CPU 662 may include one ormore processors 663 such as a processor from the Motorola family ofmicroprocessors or the MIPS family of microprocessors. In an alternativeembodiment, processor 663 is specially designed hardware for controllingthe operations of router 610. In a specific embodiment, a memory 661(such as non-volatile RAM and/or ROM) also forms part of CPU 662.However, there are many different ways in which memory could be coupledto the system.

The interfaces 668 are typically provided as interface cards (sometimesreferred to as “line cards”). Generally, they control the sending andreceiving of data packets over the network and sometimes support otherperipherals used with the router 610. Among the interfaces that may beprovided are Ethernet interfaces, frame relay interfaces, cableinterfaces, DSL interfaces, token ring interfaces, and the like. Inaddition, various very high-speed interfaces may be provided such asfast token ring interfaces, wireless interfaces, Ethernet interfaces,Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, ATM interfaces, HSSI interfaces, POSinterfaces, FDDI interfaces and the like. Generally, these interfacesmay include ports appropriate for communication with the appropriatemedia. In some cases, they may also include an independent processorand, in some instances, volatile RAM. The independent processors maycontrol such communications intensive tasks as packet switching, mediacontrol and management. By providing separate processors for thecommunications intensive tasks, these interfaces allow the mastermicroprocessor 662 to efficiently perform routing computations, networkdiagnostics, security functions, etc.

Although the system shown in FIG. 6 is one specific network device ofthe present invention, it is by no means the only network devicearchitecture on which the present invention can be implemented. Forexample, an architecture having a single processor that handlescommunications as well as routing computations, etc. is often used.Further, other types of interfaces and media could also be used with therouter.

Regardless of the network device's configuration, it may employ one ormore memories or memory modules (including memory 661) configured tostore program instructions for the general-purpose network operationsand mechanisms for roaming, route optimization and routing functionsdescribed herein. The program instructions may control the operation ofan operating system and/or one or more applications, for example. Thememory or memories may also be configured to store tables such asmobility binding, registration, and association tables, etc.

FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B illustrate example system embodiments. The moreappropriate embodiment will be apparent to those of ordinary skill inthe art when practicing the present technology. Persons of ordinaryskill in the art will also readily appreciate that other systemembodiments are possible.

FIG. 7A illustrates a conventional system bus computing systemarchitecture 700 wherein the components of the system are in electricalcommunication with each other using a bus 705. Exemplary system 700includes a processing unit (CPU or processor) 710 and a system bus 705that couples various system components including the system memory 715,such as read only memory (ROM) 720 and random access memory (RAM) 725,to the processor 710. The system 700 can include a cache of high-speedmemory connected directly with, in close proximity to, or integrated aspart of the processor 710. The system 700 can copy data from the memory715 and/or the storage device 730 to the cache 712 for quick access bythe processor 710. In this way, the cache can provide a performanceboost that avoids processor 710 delays while waiting for data. These andother modules can control or be configured to control the processor 710to perform various actions. Other system memory 715 may be available foruse as well. The memory 715 can include multiple different types ofmemory with different performance characteristics. The processor 710 caninclude any general purpose processor and a hardware module or softwaremodule, such as module 1 732, module 2 734, and module 3 736 stored instorage device 730, configured to control the processor 710 as well as aspecial-purpose processor where software instructions are incorporatedinto the actual processor design. The processor 710 may essentially be acompletely self-contained computing system, containing multiple cores orprocessors, a bus, memory controller, cache, etc. A multi-core processormay be symmetric or asymmetric.

To enable user interaction with the computing device 700, an inputdevice 745 can represent any number of input mechanisms, such as amicrophone for speech, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture or graphicalinput, keyboard, mouse, motion input, speech and so forth. An outputdevice 735 can also be one or more of a number of output mechanismsknown to those of skill in the art. In some instances, multimodalsystems can enable a user to provide multiple types of input tocommunicate with the computing device 700. The communications interface740 can generally govern and manage the user input and system output.There is no restriction on operating on any particular hardwarearrangement and therefore the basic features here may easily besubstituted for improved hardware or firmware arrangements as they aredeveloped.

Storage device 730 is a non-volatile memory and can be a hard disk orother types of computer readable media which can store data that areaccessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memorycards, solid state memory devices, digital versatile disks, cartridges,random access memories (RAMs) 725, read only memory (ROM) 720, andhybrids thereof.

The storage device 730 can include software modules 732, 734, 736 forcontrolling the processor 710. Other hardware or software modules arecontemplated. The storage device 730 can be connected to the system bus705. In one aspect, a hardware module that performs a particularfunction can include the software component stored in acomputer-readable medium in connection with the necessary hardwarecomponents, such as the processor 710, bus 705, display 735, and soforth, to carry out the function.

FIG. 7B illustrates an example computer system 750 having a chipsetarchitecture that can be used in executing the described method andgenerating and displaying a graphical user interface (GUI). Computersystem 750 is an example of computer hardware, software, and firmwarethat can be used to implement the disclosed technology. System 750 caninclude a processor 755, representative of any number of physicallyand/or logically distinct resources capable of executing software,firmware, and hardware configured to perform identified computations.Processor 755 can communicate with a chipset 760 that can control inputto and output from processor 755. In this example, chipset 760 outputsinformation to output device 765, such as a display, and can read andwrite information to storage device 770, which can include magneticmedia, and solid state media, for example. Chipset 760 can also readdata from and write data to RAM 775. A bridge 780 for interfacing with avariety of user interface components 785 can be provided for interfacingwith chipset 760. Such user interface components 785 can include akeyboard, a microphone, touch detection and processing circuitry, apointing device, such as a mouse, and so on. In general, inputs tosystem 750 can come from any of a variety of sources, machine generatedand/or human generated.

Chipset 760 can also interface with one or more communication interfaces790 that can have different physical interfaces. Such communicationinterfaces can include interfaces for wired and wireless local areanetworks, for broadband wireless networks, as well as personal areanetworks. Some applications of the methods for generating, displaying,and using the GUI disclosed herein can include receiving ordereddatasets over the physical interface or be generated by the machineitself by processor 755 analyzing data stored in storage 770 or 775.Further, the machine can receive inputs from a user via user interfacecomponents 785 and execute appropriate functions, such as browsingfunctions by interpreting these inputs using processor 755.

It can be appreciated that example systems 700 and 750 can have morethan one processor 710 or be part of a group or cluster of computingdevices networked together to provide greater processing capability.

For clarity of explanation, in some instances the present technology maybe presented as including individual functional blocks includingfunctional blocks comprising devices, device components, steps orroutines in a method embodied in software, or combinations of hardwareand software.

In some embodiments the computer-readable storage devices, mediums, andmemories can include a cable or wireless signal containing a bit streamand the like. However, when mentioned, non-transitory computer-readablestorage media expressly exclude media such as energy, carrier signals,electromagnetic waves, and signals per se.

Methods according to the above-described examples can be implementedusing computer-executable instructions that are stored or otherwiseavailable from computer readable media. Such instructions can comprise,for example, instructions and data which cause or otherwise configure ageneral purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purposeprocessing device to perform a certain function or group of functions.Portions of computer resources used can be accessible over a network.The computer executable instructions may be, for example, binaries,intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, firmware, orsource code. Examples of computer-readable media that may be used tostore instructions, information used, and/or information created duringmethods according to described examples include magnetic or opticaldisks, flash memory, USB devices provided with non-volatile memory,networked storage devices, and so on.

Devices implementing methods according to these disclosures can comprisehardware, firmware and/or software, and can take any of a variety ofform factors. Typical examples of such form factors include laptops,smart phones, small form factor personal computers, personal digitalassistants, rackmount devices, standalone devices, and so on.Functionality described herein also can be embodied in peripherals oradd-in cards. Such functionality can also be implemented on a circuitboard among different chips or different processes executing in a singledevice, by way of further example.

The instructions, media for conveying such instructions, computingresources for executing them, and other structures for supporting suchcomputing resources are means for providing the functions described inthese disclosures.

Although a variety of examples and other information was used to explainaspects within the scope of the appended claims, no limitation of theclaims should be implied based on particular features or arrangements insuch examples, as one of ordinary skill would be able to use theseexamples to derive a wide variety of implementations. Further andalthough some subject matter may have been described in languagespecific to examples of structural features and/or method steps, it isto be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claimsis not necessarily limited to these described features or acts. Forexample, such functionality can be distributed differently or performedin components other than those identified herein. Rather, the describedfeatures and steps are disclosed as examples of components of systemsand methods within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, claimlanguage reciting “at least one of” a set indicates that one member ofthe set or multiple members of the set satisfy the claim.

It should be understood that features or configurations herein withreference to one embodiment or example can be implemented in, orcombined with, other embodiments or examples herein. That is, terms suchas “embodiment”, “variation”, “aspect”, “example”, “configuration”,“implementation”, “case”, and any other terms which may connote anembodiment, as used herein to describe specific features orconfigurations, are not intended to limit any of the associated featuresor configurations to a specific or separate embodiment or embodiments,and should not be interpreted to suggest that such features orconfigurations cannot be combined with features or configurationsdescribed with reference to other embodiments, variations, aspects,examples, configurations, implementations, cases, and so forth. In otherwords, features described herein with reference to a specific example(e.g., embodiment, variation, aspect, configuration, implementation,case, etc.) can be combined with features described with reference toanother example. Precisely, one of ordinary skill in the art willreadily recognize that the various embodiments or examples describedherein, and their associated features, can be combined with each other.

A phrase such as an “aspect” does not imply that such aspect isessential to the subject technology or that such aspect applies to allconfigurations of the subject technology. A disclosure relating to anaspect may apply to all configurations, or one or more configurations. Aphrase such as an aspect may refer to one or more aspects and viceversa. A phrase such as a “configuration” does not imply that suchconfiguration is essential to the subject technology or that suchconfiguration applies to all configurations of the subject technology. Adisclosure relating to a configuration may apply to all configurations,or one or more configurations. A phrase such as a configuration mayrefer to one or more configurations and vice versa. The word “exemplary”is used herein to mean “serving as an example or illustration.” Anyaspect or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily tobe construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs.

Moreover, claim language reciting “at least one of” a set indicates thatone member of the set or multiple members of the set satisfy the claim.For example, claim language reciting “at least one of A, B, and C” or“at least one of A, B, or C” means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and Btogether, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B and C together.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: running a capturing agent on a device, the capturing agent being deployed on a virtualization environment of the device; querying, by the capturing agent, the virtualization environment associated with the capturing agent for one or more environment parameters; receiving, by the capturing agent, a response comprising the one or more environment parameters; and based on the one or more environment parameters, determining whether the virtualization environment where the capturing agent is deployed is a hypervisor or a virtual machine.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: based on the one or more parameters, determining a type of software switch running on the virtualization environment.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein querying the virtualization environment comprises querying a kernel of an operating system running in the virtualization environment.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein querying the virtualization environment comprises querying the kernel which kernel modules have been loaded.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the capturing agent is at least one of a process, a cluster of processes, a kernel module, or a kernel driver.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more environment parameters comprise at least one of a module loaded in an operating system hosting the virtualized environment, a service running in the operating system, and a configuration setting set for a software network device used by the virtualized environment.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the one or more environment parameters comprise a network address, the method further comprising: determining whether the network address has a global scope within a network or a local scope within the network, to yield an address scope determination, wherein determining whether the virtualization environment is the hypervisor or the virtual machine is based on the address scope determination.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending, to a collector that is configured to receive reports from the capturing agent, a report indicating whether the virtualization environment is the hypervisor or the virtual machine.
 9. A system comprising: a processor; and a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: running a capturing agent on a virtualization environment of the system; querying the virtualization environment associated with the capturing agent for one or more environment parameters; receiving a response comprising the one or more environment parameters; and based on the one or more environment parameters, determining whether the virtualization environment where the capturing agent is deployed is a hypervisor or a virtual machine.
 10. The system of claim 9, the computer-readable storage medium storing additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: based on the one or more parameters, determining a type of software switch running on the virtualization environment.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein querying the virtualization environment comprises querying a kernel of an operating system running in the virtualization environment.
 12. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more environment parameters comprise a network address, the computer-readable storage medium storing additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations further comprising: determining whether the network address has a global scope within a network or a local scope within the network, to yield an address scope determination, wherein determining whether the virtualization environment is the hypervisor or the virtual machine is based on the address scope determination.
 13. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more environment parameters comprise at least one of a module loaded in an operating system hosting the virtualized environment, a service running in the operating system, and a configuration setting set for a software network device used by the virtualized environment.
 14. A computer-readable storage device storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: running a capturing agent on a device, the capturing agent being deployed on a virtualization environment of the device; querying, by the capturing agent, the virtualization environment associated with the capturing agent for one or more environment parameters; receiving, by the capturing agent, a response comprising the one or more environment parameters; and based on the one or more environment parameters, determining whether the virtualization environment where the capturing agent is deployed is a hypervisor or a virtual machine.
 15. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the virtualized environment comprises a software switch, the computer-readable storage device storing additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations further comprising: based on the one or more parameters, determining a type of software switch running on the virtualization environment.
 16. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14, wherein querying the virtualization environment comprises querying a kernel of an operating system running in the virtualization environment.
 17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the one or more environment parameters comprise at least one of a module loaded in an operating system hosting the virtualized environment, a service running in the operating system, and a configuration setting set for a software network device used by the virtualized environment.
 18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the one or more environment parameters comprise a network address, the computer-readable storage device storing additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations further comprising: determining whether the network address has a global scope within a network or a local scope within the network, to yield an address scope determination, wherein determining whether the virtualization environment is the hypervisor or the virtual machine is based on the address scope determination.
 19. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14, the computer-readable storage device storing additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations further comprising: sending, to a collector that is configured to receive reports from the capturing agent, a report indicating whether the virtualization environment is the hypervisor or the virtual machine.
 20. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the capturing agent is at least one of a process, a cluster of processes, a kernel module, or a kernel driver. 